A Geek History of Time - Episode 244 - On-Screen Hatfield & McCoy Depictions Part V

Episode Date: December 30, 2023

I have one. Get the grocery store. I have two. I have three. Over for capitalism. You know, for somebody who taught Latin, your inability to pronounce French like hurts. Oh, look at you getting to the end of my stuff. Motherfucker.

But seriously, I do think that this buccolic, luxurious, live your weird fucking dreams kind of life is something worth noting. Ah, because of course he had. I got new an argument essentially with some folks as to whether or not punching Nazis is something you should do. And they're like, no, then you're just as bad as the Nazis.

I was like, the Nazis committed genocide. I'm talking about breaking noses. Drink scotch and eat strict nine. All right, you can't leave that lying there. Luxury poultry. Yes, yes. Fancy chickens. Yes, fancy chickens.

Pet fancy chickens. Pet fancy chickens. This is a geek history of thunder. Where we connect and heard her to the real world, my name is Ed Blaylock. I'm a world history angler, St. St. St. St. St. St. St. St.

St. St. St. St. St. St. St. St.

St. St. St. St. St. St. in-laws are visiting and that means that my weekend has been filled so far with home improvement projects. So it's always lovely to see them. I'm also always a little bit relieved when they leave, because they're both from the Midwest, and my father and line particular spend a very long time working in construction. And yet we don't get to sit down while they're here. You know, we get a lot of stuff done, but yeah. So that's, that's what I have going on right now.

How about you? Yeah. Um, so that's, that's what I have going on right now. How about you? Well, I'm Damien Harmony. Uh, and let's see, this week, uh, I actually, I was just talking to my daughter right before going up to record. And I told her about a friend of mine's birthday, or not birthday, baby shower that they were having. And I purchased the crib that they were asking for. And she's like, wow, do you do that often? And I said, actually, yeah, when I can, I try to take care of the big ticket item that otherwise five people would kind of group together and they'd still only pay for half of, I say, if it doesn't affect us and if it benefits them, and I can afford it, that's what I try to do.

Because typically people go for like two to three hundred dollar crib and I can, I can, I can float that. I can make that work. Yeah. So I do. And she asked me, she's like, wow, how, how are you just so nice with zero effort? And this is why I was late to recording because I had to explain to her, oh honey, it's not without effort. And so I had her stand up and punch me. And when she went to punch me, I slapped her hand away. That just the last second and it knocked off balance. I said,

now you might think that I did that automatically. But in fact, there were a lot of thoughts that went into that. I said, what you're seeing is the shrunken reaction time of me defending myself. And when it comes to me being nice, it's shrunken reaction time from really shitty instincts. So you know, and so I sat her down to explain, oh, I'm trying really hard here actually. It does not come naturally, but I've shrunk the period of time between, oh, I should probably do something and doing the right thing over time. So there's an interesting discussion for. Yeah. Compassion is a muscle. Yeah, exactly that. Exactly that. And some of us were not raised, like, you know, we were raised with bad lifting practices. Yeah. So in this instance,

it's, you know, very much I, I had to actively choose to engage those. It's, you know, some people always walk upright, they always walk straight, they're always engaging their core when they're lifting things. I don't do those things. You know, so this is the social equivalent of engaging my core. So now speaking of people whose instinct is to not be nice to each other due to a myriad of things that have happened to them. Remember last we spoke, we'd spoken of the Andy Griffith show and about how people around here like their feuds a lot bloodier. Yeah. That's a set of that's a set of stereo types to run with.

Yeah. Yeah. And he basically is like, you know, you guys should shoot each other, right? And then I think I talked to you a bit about the Lincoln and Locke and counties feuds, right, with the the the brum fields and the dinginises. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And then and then other other families that this this is not just a hat fields and a coins thing. This this is something something being in the water. Probably. Yeah. Probably. Potentials led. I think I talked about the main Jones war too. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, there's just a lot of that. And so Andy Griffiths

off the cuff line about people feeling a certain way about their feuds is really salient and within two generations of popular imagination and I think about who would be sitting around watching Andy Griffith it wasn't just young kids it wasn't just parents it was grandparents who lived with their kids too and there might be some like what's the word I'm looking for? Collective memory of such things in the zeitgeist. Yeah, generational legacy, legacy kind of, well, you know, back where I came from before we moved to the city during the war, or before the war, whatever, that kind of thing.

Yeah. And it was, again, this is stuff from the 1880s, usually. And this is the 1960s. But there's just enough stain in the carpet left that you can see that somebody spilled something all over the carpet. That's a great analogy. That's a lovely metaphor right there. Yeah. So in 1964, the Flintstones had their crack.

Oh, God. Look on your face. Um, because of course they did. Like, like, like, I don't know what the look was on my face because I wasn't watching, you know, my, my, my camera, my camera. But there was just a drop in the shoulder and a shake, a slow shake of the head. Like, oh, fuck here we go. Yeah, well, because because of course they did because everybody else has. Right. And it's low hanging fruit at this point. Right. You know, it's the thing, it shouldn't be low-hanging fruit for a cartoon series

like people fucking died, right? So many people died. So man, like that's the thing that gets me is like, oh, I'm firing literal murder here. Right. And the fluincines are like, yeah, yeah, let's do that. It's just like, God damn dammit. What's the same tragedy plus timing equals comedy? I guess, like, or just makes it right for it. Like, I don't know, it makes me feel like I could dust off my, you know, my Plantagenet death jokes, you know, it's time, you know. So I, it depends on which plantage and in some cases I tell you too soon. Bear. So right. And and in certain parts of England, if it's Richard, Richard, the third just don't just right walk away.

Right. Walk away. Yeah. All right. Well, we'll put that in the parking lot and nicely done. Thank you. Well done. So Fred inherits in a state, very

buster Keaton of them, right? Yeah. In Arcan Rock. Oh, you get a dabba did that. Oh, he fucking went there. And so now what I find interesting about that though, Ark and rock. Right. I'm saying that was a straight goddamn face. Ark and rock resumably is what four states away from tennis late and west, I don't know, I've run out of

I've run out of rock jokes to make. But you know, this is this is rooted in Appalachia. Right. And and now we're getting Arkansas involved. Right. And and I mean this this of course just gives back to what what you kind of already said was that this had become a part of the shorthand for just oh well you know look at those backwards rural you know right doofuses right and just to give some some geographic context here right? So Arkansas is part of the O's arcs. Yes. If I recall correctly, I know you, yeah, you definitely have the Mississippi river going through. It's the Eastern border. It does butt up into Tennessee. It does share a border of Tennessee and Missouri. Tennessee and Missouri both share a border with Kentucky, but it's the far western end of Kentucky. No, we're new. I was gonna say, yeah, because it's like on the

opposite end of that state. Yeah. So yeah, it would be like, you know, something happened in San Francisco and we're like, all right, boy Z. It borders a border state. Yeah. Yes. It's the other side of Oregon, which is still you got to go through there. But yeah, but it's geographically roughly like the same amount of compass spread, you know. Yeah. So he inherits his estate from Ark and Rock because his ancestors, the gruesome's

left it for him. Yeah. And I'm like, oh, you just went away from the name completely now. Like, wow. Right. Okay. Not even trying to, not even trying to lampshade. Right. Well, we're okay. Right. But then they, his ancestors had started a feud with another family in, in, uh, in that area called the hat rocks. It's one or the other, right?

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I find it interesting that in this case, it's, it's's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.

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Again, yeah. It really helps to have more more people survive who then go on to write things. Yeah, and well, I end to have more money, but yes, yeah. Quite so. So when Fred shows up to claim it, the hat rocks are ready to fight again. And I mean, okay, at this point, do I really need to get any into it? We've seen the Buster Keaton plot. We've seen the cartoons. We've seen all this. It's just, there you go. Okay.

But here's a question, though. Sure. So many of the other adaptations, like almost all of them, have a Romeo, Juliet kind of element to them. This does not. Yeah, I was going to say, because it better not. Even the buzzer wasn't married man. Come on.

Yeah, but he could have had a slut cousin kind of thing. Yeah, right. Yeah, after another slut cousin. Yeah, okay. Yeah, yeah. But no, didn't have any of that. But I do find it interesting because you mentioned that you even had the Romeo and Juliet aspect of it with Bugs Bunny doing it because he dressed in red for a minute. But okay, so it's 1964. I mean, you know, let's look at the historiography,

right? There's nothing huge going on socially at all where people's similarities are overwhelming while they fight over their differences. So there you go. Yeah, um, Arkansas is not in the middle of it all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think I made the papers at one point. Wasn't there like a paratrooper got caught like on the ground or something? I don't remember. Yeah. The 101st airborne had to be sent in in order to enforce a Supreme court ruling. So yeah, like, like, as much as it is the stick in this podcast, let's, let's, let's, let's, let's stop this podcast, let's stop the cute here. And, you know, yeah, this is a, I mean, this is the period in the 60s where like every year, it seems like the high watermark of strife over the civil rights of non-white

Americans. Oh, yeah. It's bad. It's really bad. There's a lot of murders going on, you know, I'm trying to remember when certain people got shot. But yeah, it's, it's not 1964 is certainly not what I would say. I would say, you know, Johnson does sign the historic civil rights movement or the civil rights act. Thank you. Yeah. He does sign that. Yeah. Act act. Thank you. Yeah, he does sign that yeah, um, you know, and and I'm trying to think of what else. Uh, now he does that partly because he he wraps himself in the shroud of Kennedy's martyrdom. And then he actually in acts the civil rights legislation that he wanted to pass forever. He claimed um, so that he would have a lasting legacy. So doing the right thing for really blended jobs. Shitty reasons. Yeah. Yeah. But you know, you've got a lot going on, a lot going on. Now in 1968, we're going to fast forward a little bit. Mary Melodies does it again

going to fast forward a little bit. Mary Melodies does it again with something called feud with a dude. And this time it's Merlin the magic mouse. So it's not bugs money at all. It's Merlin the magic mouse. And I had to watch this cartoon. He and his assistant, whose name was second banana, are flying their magic carpet over the Ozark mountain range. Again, we're nowhere near where the feud actually happened. I, you know, the focus on the Ozarks is really interesting to me though. It's migrated quite a bit like you need. Shorthand has migrated. Yeah. like the short hand has migrated. Yeah.

And I wonder, I wonder if that's because of the zit guys looking to that part of the South more maybe because of headlines. I'm thinking so I genuinely, I think because there was a lot more going on in the Ozarks, re-civil rights and re-civil strife. But still, they're not, like, again, it's interesting that they're marrying, if that's happening, it's interesting that they're marrying that area with the Hatfield and McCoy feud. Because they absolutely are. Because the reason that they so they're flying over the Ozarks, they get shot down because the Hatfields and McCoy started their morning routine of shooting at each other and feuding. The morning routine. Right. Right. Yeah. So you've talked about threshold of violence in the past. Yeah. When you're born in season.

This isn't even a threshold. This is, this is violence is the wallpaper. Like this is literally subliminal. Yeah. You know, so when they land, both sides insist that both Merlin the magic mouse and second banana pick a side and they get threatened with being shot if they don't Merlin tries to get the bottom of why they're feuding and both sides claim that the feud is due to each family stealing the others animals

so again You're tying the hog few the hog trial in Because I think that's shorthand for look at these roob fighting over animals. I think that's shorthand for look how backward these people are. It's interesting that that shorthand has migrated down to a different mountain range entirely. Yeah. So by the way, the Hatfields, Hen and the McCoy's pig are the animals in question.

Okay. So they each stole one of each others. Merlin then uses his magic hat and he produces both animals, which of course, doesn't solve anything. And in fact, it earns the hatred of both clans because now it looks like Merlin started the feud. Look how stupid these people are. Yeah, okay. So it's 1968 and there's just a lot of like, and I keep thinking about like, what, what is it about that area? And I'm like, okay, the rust belt isn't quite there.

Oh, but at the same time, I don't think most Americans could point out the rust belt on a map. Like, and that's the thing is it's just like a green light. It's like a 13 year old understanding the female rate reproductive system. I don't know. It's somewhere there and near the belly button, something. Something. Do I get to touch boobs? That's what counts. You know, it's like that kind of, you know, vague understanding of of the area. So anyway, there's lots of stats slapstick, lots of running around, lots of making these two robes look like they're dumb. And then Merlin and Second Banana, of course, escape. And what's fun is that this is 1968. So the footage of them escaping is actual NASA footage of a rocket taking off.

Okay. And then the few, the, the, the few to inclants go back to fighting each other. Okay. And again, I just, I get a kick out of the fact that like, you know, look at these, look at these, these rubs, look at these idiots. And now we're going to, you know, now we're going to, we're going to escape using superior technology. It strikes me funny. It strikes me very funny. By the way, there is some overlap with, I did mention rust belt. There is some overlap with rust belt and coal mining territory for people who are wondering.

The rust belt though is essentially like the the Northwest territory of 18 or of 1787. Like yeah, oh, I.O. Indiana. Yeah, gets up to Buffalo. I mean, all the places that made cars and shit for cars, you know, um, stretched out to Illinois in certain spots, but, the bottom half of the hand of Michigan. But, you know, again, I don't know that most people would have been able to approximate it there. It would have made me confused it with Bible belt or the Sun belt or whatnot. Yeah, interestingly enough, the only reason I know anything about the location of the Rust belt is because of it being referenced in source books for vampire the masquerade. Oh, wow.

Like as a region, the only reason I know where it's located is because that was a big part of the urban decay background kind of setting for the default in vampire of the masquerade back in 1991. Wow. Okay. And 192. So yeah. Wow. All right.

Well, and again, it's 1968. So there's nothing going on that has people thinking that there's no way they can ever reconcile with anyone else in the world no matter what. Okay. Yeah. Nothing in the public consciousness where people are beginning to be brand loyalists rather than looking at policy and practice and holding up ideals and principles over being on a winning side.

There's nobody who says power is the ultimate affidijaq, advising your presidents to lie to the people about bombing other places and people attacking hishtog. You know, nothing like that. There's all this all this sarcasm is unbecoming. Of course, nothing like that was I don't know why I don't know why you're using that tone of voice. I don't know why I don't know why you're using that tone of voice. So it's sarcasm come now. No, by 1968, I almost want to say that like we've talked about how shitty the decade, how shitty the decade of the 70s was for like everybody. And I almost feel like when we talk about the 70s, the 70s didn't start

in 1970. Oh no, decades are never dry. Like if you really want to say, you know, getting getting getting MLK and RFK killed within months of each other. Yeah. You know, by the way, that's like the opening and I hate to use this language. I really don't mean for it to be a pun, but that really is the opening salvo of the 70s right there. Yeah. Well, that plus demands and murders like you really, oh, and ultimate. Oh, my God, that was all.

It's all within two years. Holy shit. Should I throw in Kent State so we can just fill up my hand? Just, yeah. Yeah. Just around and out. Several other colleges where they shot several black protesters and killed them. So, but, you know, those things didn't capture the zeitgeist at the time.

That's why I went to Kent State in terms of, you know, things to reference. There's the picture of that young lady, who, as it turns out, was a 13 year old runaway. Well, she thought she was 14, but yes, but who was, who was not a college student, right? It was a literal child. Yes. Yeah. So, um, which honestly, at that age, would have qualified her for being a traveling band groupie for any

number of musicians in the 70s. Oh, man. It was a stark fucking time. It was awful. It's making people come in. Like when you're hungry, is yelling at protesters for getting beaten by cops in Chicago as it's happening and expecting to win like yeah, yeah, and thinking like an America's best option is Nixon apparently according to enough of them. Like it just it is a dark dark time. So anyway, there's multiple shows that have now osmosisized the feuds to the Ozark region,

like we said. It it almost feels like the further we get from the feud, the more generalized the air location becomes. And that brings me to 1975 movie that I really wish I hadn't watched. Yeah, that's good. The same reason as certain other movies that I've watched where I'm like, why, why did I do that? But this one was, oh boy, in 1975, Clyde Ware directed Jack Palens, Richard Hatch and Steve Forest in the Hatfields and McCoys, a made for TV movie for ABC's movie of the week in January. It is what it says on the box. It's Hatfields and McCoys. It's a retelling of the tale. And there's lots of 1970s attempts at folk music. It's overly produced and yet still badly done fully. The narration starts off with the credits, where they tell you about the Hatfields and the McCoys.

It's very sympathetic to the Hatfields and it shows Devil Ants Hatfield as played by Jack Palinz and Harmon and Randolph McCoy finding him and the McCoys are still both in Union uniforms, which is funny, because Randall wasn't in the Union. No. And he didn't run around with his brother, Harman. Wait a minute. Um, Randall was born. Randall was Randall even old enough to fight during during the actual war. Oh, yeah. Randall ended up in a prison camp at one point. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Randall, Randall was was. If I recall correctly, and I would just have to scroll up some to find it, but

sorry. I'm confusing. I'm confusing participants. Never mind. Yeah, Randall, Randall, Randall McCoy. Yeah. Sorry. My bad. That's okay. So they find them. They're still in uniform, despite only Asaharman being in uniform at one point. And that was in 1863. But, you know, and again, they happen upon double ants hunting. Ants and Ellison Hatfield are wearing plane clothes because they have both quit the war earlier, which there is some truth to that. I don't remember Ellison being in the army, but okay, they talked for a while with really tortured accents like I don't know if accent coaches came around later or if nobody could teach jack balance anything back then I don't know. But it's bad and and they talk about yeah. And you tell

what kind of accent they're trying to approximate vaguely Southern. Yeah okay. It would be like just just the very fact that that's it. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Is is like three red flags on its own. Yeah. Because because somebody from Georgia has a very noticeably different accent than somebody from say West Virginia. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. So there you go. So they they're talking in these accents about how devilance could have killed Harmon just now, but he shot him in the hip.

No, not just now, like during the war, but in the hip instead, which last I check it and shot in the hip is close to a death sentence most of the time. Yeah. I mean, if it wings you okay, cool. Like, I get it, like grazes you, but like you just shot in the pelvis. So, so there. So there, that is such an anachronistic insert because the thing is at the time period with a rifled musket ball, being shot in the hip, would at the very least guarantee you were going to lose a leg. Yeah. The likelihood would actually be you're a dead man, not walking. Right. Because because yeah, because they were shooting like 68 caliber soft lead bullets soft lead bullets that would hit you in the hip, hit a bone, probably fragment, and those pieces are going to go in three different directions.

And everywhere they tumble, they're going to rip shit apart. Exactly. So yeah, like that is that that is the kind of talk that somebody who maybe sock combat in World War II or Vietnam. Right. Where where round velocities were immensely higher. Sure. And and you know, the idea of a through and through bullet wound. Yeah. What was the thing, which like didn't happen in the civil war, or didn't happen nearly as often in the civil war? It certainly happens less often in your hip. You've got your biggest bone, the densest bone, maybe not the densest, but like the like the greatest surface area bone. Plus a bunch of gut and muscle. Yeah.

That's your, bubbi. Right. So, yeah, he tells him, well, you know, shot you in the hip. And so there's kind of, oh, let's not, let's not start a fight here, fellas. And the Hatfields give their deer that they killed to Harmon and to Randolph Harmon can't let go and he nearly shoots ants, but Randolph calms him down and he's the voice of reason So that's how we're starting Yeah

Sorry They're one of the patriarchs and I don't want to be stiff families being the voice of reason. Right. It's like no, okay, but carry on. Yeah. So then we skip ahead 15 years, like you do. Which again, if you look at when the feud starts, when do you want to start it, right? We talked about that before.

So it skips ad 15 years and narrator comes back and he says, quote, hatred cool slowly across the land. It was the same with the had fields and the McCoy's devil, ants and his family prospered in the hill country. Um, so now Ellison has aged quite a bit and he has caught in top with him. And he admits that the hog isn't quite a Hatfield hog that he found, but he found it in their territory. Ellison doesn't seem to mind stealing in this episode or in this particular iteration. And he even after ants warns him that the McCoys will be at the hold down that they're taking the hog to. And John C mentioned that ants owns half of Mingo County to Johnson doubts allowed what his father did to get the land.

So it's like. All right. Yeah. You got you got some things right? So then there's a ho down. The Hatfields and the McCoys also seem to be enjoying the ho down. But it is so painfully 1970s production that it hurts. Like you see a couple of tables.

It's clearly like a small stage and they keep all the action, like kind of tightly wound. It honestly looks like an SNL stage. And while the glasses aren't those stupid colored plastic glasses that are like brown or gold colored that you would get as the free water glasses, they're only a step above that and same thing with the tables. They're clearly not the tables that you would see in a wrestling match, but there are only a step above that. And I'm pretty sure it's the probably plastic checkerboard red and white. Oh, yeah, tablecloths.

Yeah, like I never mind. Maybe. Never mind that historically, it'd be interesting to look up whether they would have even had tablecloths. Sure. At at an event like that. Or if they would have had a hold down. Yeah.

You know, that one might be a little bit more plausible. Sure. Sure. But also, you know, but we have a vague under, you know, we have a vague mythical pseudo past understanding of things. Yeah. This kind of fits with that, you know. yeah, oh, it a big way. Yeah. Yeah. So they're at the holdout and we see John C and Rosanna's romance blooming there. And then somebody brings out the pig. I think a couple of the Hatfield boys bring out the pig to much fanfare. And Ellison makes a toast to the women and to Levacy, especially, which is devilance's wife. to Levacy especially, which is devilance's wife. He then makes a toast to ants for donating the hogs,

mm-hmm, which leads to cotton top bragging about the other ones that are cooking out back. Oh, we got some real special ones out back. And then the slicing of the hog is given great fanfare and the first slice is given a rannel. And it absolutely has the ear, which is not his way that he will notice. So is this is this characterized as an intentional thing?

Yes. Very intentional. Stupid boys doing stupid shit. But they're not boys. They're definitely adults. They're they're not even adults pretending to be teenagers. They're grown ass men. This is what they're doing. Meanwhile, Alifair, Nancy and Rosanna all three are apparently the same age and they're all oogling the men or oggling the the Hatfield men. Um, but the exposition then comes back in and says how Harman was killed after the war and so on and so forth. Uh, we see the burgeoning romance between Rosanna and Johnson, like I said, and then back inside, a McCoy son points out that the notches on the pig's ear looked very similar. Mm-hmm. And how much of a deliberate insult it's been. And of course a fight at the Hodeown in Seuss, the Hodeown turns throw down. Um, ants and Randall are the. Oh, why, why, why has the WWE never done that? Oh, I think that well, they had a

whole down they did have a big slot match and they did have a bunkhouse brawl. But throw down at the hotel like come on. Yeah, that would have been more of a WCW thing to be okay. Good. Pack that's true. Yeah, but still. Yeah, I feel I feel like this was a missed opportunity. I agree. I agree. Okay. So when Anson Randall separate the everybody and then it comes out, right? So so Anson Randall are still the voices of reason. They're still trying to cool heads, but at the same time, you just, I've had too much and I can't take no more kind of thing. And and then Randall, let's loose responding actually to wall, Uncle wall, like devil and brother. Yeah. He says, I've let it lay wall all these years. There was no, there were no, there were,

there were no proof of harman. Them is McCoy notches. So, so I couldn't find any proof that y'all are shitty about killing my brother, So I couldn't find any proof that you all are shitty about killing my brother, but I know pig notches when I see them. And now is this kind of the chronology what actually happened? Yes. Harmon gets killed another 15 years go by before you have the hog trial. And the hog trial is absolutely about your notches. Ellison then goes and doubles down

while Ann's is looking chagrined, right? And then Randall proclaims that the law will look at the hogs ears and that he would have gladly given the hogs for this thing, but he will not be made a fool of and then he leaves. So it's really pushing the idea of honor over a pig and I just wanna point out like how rubish that seems, It's really pushing the idea of honor over a pig.

And I just wanna point out like how rubish that seems. How, God, these people are so backward. Like in the ABC made for TV Monday night. Yeah. Yeah. And by this time, important to note that all of the production of all of this, and I mean, this has been the case for a while, but I feel like now that this is an ABC television movie. Movie of the week.

Movie of the week. This is all being filmed in Burbank, California. Yeah. By a bunch of people, written by a bunch of people who have been in Hollywood a long time, produced like this, this is a 100% California dream factory production. You kind of expect the gorn to be fighting Kirk in the same valley. Yeah, like, and, and, like, you know, Apollo is one of the, one of one of the main actors involved here. Yeah. And there is such a remarkable level of disconnect. And they are treating it as like Shakespeare only without the respect they would give to

Shakespeare. Right. They're treating it as, yeah, they're treating it as this this melodrama with overtones of antiquiness antiquity and and and by this time the what you're saying about the look at these people, look at what robes these people are. I don't think it's even so conscious as man, these people are a bunch of robes. It's, well, you know, this is the 1870s, 1880s in Appalachia., that's just how those people were. You know what I mean? And it's become a knee jerk set of biases. Yeah, it is the most shorthand that shorthand gets. It's, you know, it feels like it feels like the current rules for filibuster.

All you got to do is say filibuster. Yeah, you don't even have to filibuster. You don't even have to. Yeah, yeah, pretty much. So overall, the history is quite messed about in this thing. One could reasonably actually say that this is not the Hatfields McCoy's, but inspired by true events. Yeah, that's as far as it could get. In this one, Rosanna is brought back by the McCoy's who show up armed at the Hatfield home. Boy, that's a reversal, ain't it? Yeah. Ellison is fatally shot in Kentucky after a brawl, which okay, that is how it happened. Although I was pretty sure he got killed in West Virginia or no, he got brought back to

Dianne West Virginia. Yeah, they carried him. Yeah. No, no, the crime happened in West Virginia coming thing because that was the most of the argument, right? Oh, yeah, yeah. Yeah. And oh, my God, the necker chief per capita is too much to bear in this fucking movie.

It. Oh. So anyway, Mokoi tells the Hatfields to leave, Ants sits vigil over Ellison who's dying in his bed and totally revises the history of what we actually seen in the movie so far, talking about how peaceful and kindly Ellison has been. It's like, no, you've had him as the main like trouble-making antagonist. The one poking the bear and then getting his hand bit. So the McCoy boys get brought to Pikeville, or they're being brought to Pikeville and Randall trusts in the law, telling his remaining sons to chill the fuck out about it, like that the law will take care of it. And actually his pants

just so you know, or just about up to his ribs. Um, the costumes I fucking hate in this whole thing. Um, anyway, ants comes by with guns. Everything. Let's oh my god. This will be. Oh, the McCoy boys are, uh, yeah, are seized by ants with, with the guns. The murder is done off screen. And we find the McCoy Suns at the same time that Randall and his other Suns do the McCoys go and attack the Hatfield shooting up their house and starting a fire in their house. None of that happened. And then the McCoys go, oh, I said that. And and then as

John C is leaving, Rosanna is dressed up like a man and has her gun trained on him, but then she lets him leave. And he goes and gets wall and cotton top. And so many folks from Mingo County show up to route the McCoy's from attacking the Hatfields in their house. So what you're saying is this script was written by a Hatfield descendant. I'm saying this script was written by somebody on a cocaine bender who basically wanted to, I don't know what the fuck was going on, but nobody edited it. It's just like, you know,

kind of like, oh, and then we'll throw some extra drama in there. We'll have her dress up like a man and then have them dead to rights, but then let him go. I'm like, it worked when it was in GI Joe, because that was a cartoon 10 years later. It doesn't work here. It doesn't work here. So yeah, this is 75. This is made 75. So as you were venting about what a horrible cinematic experience this whole thing was, oh yeah. I looked up because it occurred to me, um, deliverance came out in 1972. Yeah. Now that's in Georgia, so it's totally different.

Totally. No, it's not. And and do you think the success of deliverance was part of what led network executives to think three years later to to even have this story show up like in the back of their head has something to do a movie about. I want you to put a pin in that question because when I'm done summarizing the movie for you, I'm going to talk about led to the studio heads choosing this property. Okay.

So think about that. You think about your question. Okay, I will. So, Randall McCoy then arrests everyone, having a badge from Kentucky, and then they hang cotton top this time with no trial first. And now the Hatfields are on the defensive. Like, and then Randall arrests Wall who dies in jail and then quote, the young men of the clans fought constantly knives guns and even dynamite were their weapons.

What? Like, what they're doing is they're grabbing. Okay. Um, that one brother of Nancy's did stab the postman to death. They all did shoot at each other. And at the battle of grapevine creek, there was dynamite thrown. Okay. But they were taking those details and writing them large. It would be like if I talked about D day, and you know, D day and the allies against the Axis and the Americans fought against kamikazis and they stormed beaches and they liberated towns.

Like those things are all three true. Not they didn't all happen at D day. Right. Yeah. You're you're conflating some things there. It feels like a Trump speech about the American revolution. Yeah, holding the airports. Right. Which I think he wanted to say ramparts, but he doesn't know what a rampart is. So he figured it was an airport. And yeah,

yeah, you'd think about how much Adderall in his system allegedly would be able to focus. think about how much Adderall in his system allegedly would be able to focus. EOL see the Adderall can't completely overcome the whatever form of dimension is he's been developing for the last. Yeah, okay. Cool. I didn't see in our in our respective districts does not mean what we say is not actionable. Okay, fair.

Allegedly, okay, fair. Allegedly. Allegedly. Yeah. So, the whole thing is compressed and stripped down just so it can serve as his narrative. And then here's more. While devil ants went up to the grapevine cabin to think of a solution, his son Cap took matters into his own hands. And the next time the McCoy's crossed the tug cap and the Hatfield clan were ready.

No, um, is this is this like are you trying to make this sound biblical? Some hell like, I think there's something there. I again, I think it's the laziest writing I've seen. And I covered that. Say something. Yeah, I was gonna say that say something. You covered Betty Boob. Yeah. That's saying, that's something. You're a Betty Boop. Yeah. Yeah. I know. So the McCoy's plan was to entice the Hatfields to Kentucky soil. And it already, and they had already gone to the governor in this movie.

Devilance's family came up to, to, to, to, to see Devilance at the Great Vine cabin. And this is the first time that I hear of Frank Phillips at all. Quote, even some fancy man from Texas, the brung, the brungware and two pearl handled pistols. And it's, it's at this point where the narrator actually reveals himself as TC Crawford of the New York world. And now I'm going to hit pause to show you these pictures. So in the chat, you'll see two pictures. The first one is actually the historical picture of the Hatfield clan. You can see devil ants right there in the center. And you see, what do you notice about almost every man in that picture?

And you see, what do you notice about almost every man in that picture? No, I've got a enlargent here. Oh, sure. Well, I mean, I can make it a familial resemblance. Okay. Like looking at the shape of their faces. Okay. Generally, what is every man in that picture doing? Well, they're all armed. Yes. Deliberate every one of them. Yes.

Now there's two boys sitting down there who aren't weaponed. And if you look in the background, I believe that's Levi C. And then back behind her is one of the Hatfield daughters. And then in this next picture, this is taken straight from, I screen capped it. I think I actually, I can see the, I can see the line down at the bottom there. Oh my God. Yeah, oh my God, what?

Who is that? Oh, is that Richard Hatch in the back rank there with the gray hat on? Yes. And then next to him, do you recognize the guy next to him? It's okay if you don't know, I don't. Okay, that is Robert Caridine. Fuck you.

Nope, dead serious. Oh my God. Okay, avenge of the nerd star, Robert. Yeah, holy cow. Okay. And devilenge of the Nerd star, Robert Garrett. Yeah. Holy cow. Okay. And devilance is jack balance with the real reality. Balance with a bad beard. Yeah.

But you know, this is framed very similarly, right? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They were very faithful to that.

And I was like, Oh, cool. They they were very faithful to that. But Richard hatched the jacket he's wearing is not period accurate, like at all. It looks like it. All. It looks like, Hey, Richard, you got a jacket. Yeah, I've got a leisure suit that's being washed and hands are so I'll bring in the jacket.

Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, it's that's that's that's that's that's practically that's almost a blazer. Like, yeah, what the fuck? Right. The sport coat. Oh my God. Yeah, that just screams. low production values like really does. Good God almighty. Okay. So yeah, the narrator reveals himself. He's T.C. Crawford of the New York world. The reporters were mostly in Kentucky, by the way, in reality, interviewing folks in Pikeville more than anything. However, there is a great scene where the reporter takes the picture that is clearly, as you can see, patterned after the actual photograph of the Hatfields, that a traveling reporter did actually go up there and take

some time in the 1880s. Oh, wow. While the feud was happening, this is true. And this photo did get taken by a traveling reporter. Like all of that is true. But like realistically, most of your reporting happens in Kentucky. And some of it is, is due to the fact that Perry Klein is running things. They have the governor on their side over there.

They can be found. There's there's several several things. They're not actively in hiding. Yeah, that would tend to make that a lot easier. Yeah, you know, also, uh, they are the aggrieved party in this feud very much so. Yeah. And there's a layer of like, you know, it's it's suffering porn. And let's laugh at these people for the way they talk and Kentucky. Also, we can't find the ones in West Virginia. So yeah, we'd be laughing at them too. Right. So the story continues where both Randal and Devil Ants are hunting each other alone.

Like it's like, okay, I think I get what you're trying to do, but what the fuck? Complete with natural dangers like bears and rattlesnakes to add to the to the heightened tension of their feud. So they're hunting each other and trying to avoid rattlesnakes, rattlesnakes, and bears. And they start shooting at each other close enough to yell each other's, yell each other film, familiarities, right? They play cat and mouse for a while, ants get went gets winged in the gut and Randall gets winged in the shoulder. And again, they're solitary. They're hunting each other through the wilderness.

They each hit the other in the leg. And so now they've both taken two bullets from each other. We are so far from what actually happened at this point. And then they have both, they both have each other dead to rights. At the end, and there's a grim stare down until they both notice a deer. And then that breaks it. And you hear last time I made the shot from, from devil ants. And then rannel, I recollect, I reckon I lost my taste for it. I still got a few hogs left. And then neither shoots the deer and the cheerful music starts up and the two

wounded men walk off into the woods while the deer runs off. And that's fucking it. That's the end of the movie. And then you hear a quote or you hear the narrator and that was the end to it. Devil Lance Randall went into the woods alone. And then you hear a quote or you hear the narrator. And that was the end to it. Devil Lantz Randall went into the woods alone. And when they came out, a war between the Hatfields and McCoy's was finished. Roll credits and they separate walking their own separate ways. So you look like you're about to sneeze or you're really confused one of the well I am but I'm also Something occurs to me. This is 75

and 75 Fall of second. Yeah, that happened Was this? Well, this was in January. So follow-up I got on. So follow-up. Yeah, it's later. But by this time, we had, basic, we had walked away from Vietnam. And this is, I'm going to argue this is that. On some levels, I would say that there's a little bit more to it. Now at this time, ABC was tanking in the ratings with this ABC movie of the week.

This particular iteration was just dog shit in the ratings. It felt more like they were just finishing their contracts than anything else. And let's go off into what you call it in the Fernando Valley, San Fernando Valley, and just film shit. Let's just throw out a script. This will get Jack Palantz, his third thing that he has to do with us, that kind of stuff.

And I think that's the answer to your question about why did they, you know, think this was worthwhile. I don't think they did. I think they did it to get it off their books. I think it was, okay, now we have completed this contract because if you look at the other movie of the weeks, they were all dog shit as well. But many of them were intellectual properties that these people would have had to pay out for. They had fields in the McCoy's are not an intellectual property. You have to pay out for. So it's cheaper production there too. Okay. All right. Now this a part of me wonders that this is the age of Gerald Ford, right? And there's not an overwhelming desire on the part of former brand loyalists

to just get back to business and let bygones be bygones either. Ford had pardon Nixon in September of 74. Okay. And I think that plays into this too. So even though it was considered quite divisive and incredibly frustrating and a huge blow to Ford's chances at president in the 76 election For instance his popularity dropped from 71 to 50% Very quickly after that amongst Republicans Okay, yeah, but that is still kind of my point It was still at 50% Yeah, that means there were plenty who wanted to just kind of let it pass and move on.

And Ford, of course, being one of them. Now, I don't know which way Martin Starger and Fred Silverman voted, but looking at the programming that both of them presided over, they were the presidents of ABC during this time. They both wanted to make money off of the kind of programming that Ford fans would enjoy. Starger oversaw the creation of Happy Days in a stalled-to-base programming that started in 74. All right. Only later did it get into progressive politics and actually addressing the civil rights movement.

And then Silverman had been responsible for Perry Mason, Matt Locke, Father Dowling Mysteries, Diagnosis Murder, basically all old people solving crimes. Yeah. Which interesting. I kind of, I don't want to have to write that podcast because I have to watch those. Yeah. But he also pioneered something called jiggle TV. So he's got old people selling. I might sign up to handle that podcast.

You do that right here. You do that. You enjoy early 80s tits. Like have fun. I don't need it. Yeah. So that was that movie. In 1977, we have to return back to animation because the Scooby-Doo dynamite hour had its own take on that field.

It's me, Hannah Barbar why do you hurt us like this again? They had an episode called the Ozark Witch Switch. Yeah. Now I could not find the whole cartoon. I could find chunks of it here and there. And so I was able to piece it together as best I could. Okay. They appear to be going through the Ozarks in the mystery machine. And then they stay the night at Ma and Pa Hatfields. And then they run into a woman who's pretending to be witch McCoy, who's trying to scare people off so that she can of course get the treasure. And it would

have worked too if it weren't for those pesky kids who used flour to pretend to be the ghosts of the Hatfields who've returned from the past to turn which McCoy into a frog like you do. And she fell for it. Well, yeah. Like the one person who scared the most of like spirits and shit is the one pretending to be one, you see. Yeah, okay. Yeah. Now, interestingly, Shaggy has shoes on, but none of the others do when they flower up to be a Hatfield ghosts. But there are lots of overalls, flopped up front bill of the hat and using rope as belts. Of all of them to have shoes on, Shaggy. Right.

Huh. I know. It's a weird choice. All right. Yeah. The locals all say weons, which is actually period accurate. And they use, I had to write this down. It's a fur piece back in the woods. So honestly, they're trying to be more authentic than the Jack Pound's movie. Yeah, yeah, remarkably enough. The dialect there is less, less bad than it seems like the movie in the week was. not. Now remember, Armin did hide out in the cave. Yeah.

So cave. You're a thing. Okay. And did I mention that they had to cross a river to get to the witch's cave. So okay. All right. You got your landmarks. Yeah. They got some details involved there. Yeah. And of course, local ex-con Zeke Harkins pretends to be a zombie who is competing with the witch McCoy, who was really just Aggie Wilkums, Zeke's old girlfriend. This is the century mark since the feud. Zeke was short for Ezekiel, obviously.

Yeah. Yeah. Although if there was anybody named Ezekiel from the Hatfield, McCoy families, you know, his nickname would have been like, good, leal or something. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, wouldn't have been seek. Yeah. So that's another covering of it, you know, a mention.

Again, it is, it's a hundred years hence, and it is the lowest hanging fruit. Now then in November of 1979 family feud the television show with Richard Dawkins had a five day special where the modern families of Hatfield and McCoy dressed up like their ancestors and played family feud. For real? Yes, for real. I watched all of it. I could find that one. I couldn't find Scooby-Doo. I could find that one. I found four parts of Scooby-Doo and I was able to piece it together, but four parts of Scooby-Doo and I was able to piece it together. But, so Uncle Bo on the McCoy side had a long beard too, and they had Confederate dressed mannequins near them on the set, as well as the pig that the winner family would get to leave with. Yes, I'm serious.

All of these people are haunted now, right? Like, like, like, their ancestors came back and are giving them shit now. Now, because, I guess what Regalia was on the Hatfield side of things. Manicans just like Union soldiers. What? What? You? Yeah.

Okay, no, you don't get, you don't get to appropriate unionism. You know, fuck you. No. God damn it. No. Mm. So at one point Richard Dawkins or it's not Dawkins. I'm sorry.

That would be really fun if he was right. Like that. That that name Dawson. Dawson. Yeah. Dawson. Yeah. Okay.

His name is Richard Dawson. He's very didn't like Dawson. Dawson. Dawson. Yeah. Okay. His name is Richard Dawson. He's buried in my garden. Dawson. Um, no. Uh, so Richard Dawson, I'm sorry. At one point, Richard Dawson said, quote, apart from the money involved, you're going to walk through the hills of Virginia. And then they interrupted him immediately to correct him that it's West Virginia. And they're taking all the umbridge. And he responds with, quote, well, wherever the hell you people walk with your head held high and that pig on the leash, that's the thing. Like, I wanted you telling you.

Yeah. Now, the whole thing is pretty convivial. They actually shake hands and they applaud each other because it's been a hundred years and like a lot of shits happened. I mean, shit, the last time we saw a hat field is dying, it was at the hands or the neglect of other hat fields, you know, like. So pretty much. Yeah.

Now, when they buzz in, it's the sound of a rifle shot and a ricochet. So Dawson is shameless as he kisses the shit out of the female members on both families per the usual. The McCoy's, they won the feud, they got the pig and the trophy and $11,000 and Richard Dawson got to feel up most of the family's women. Now when he goes to hand the trophies out to the winning family, the Hatfields pick up their guns and everyone starts shooting at each other. Right. Yeah, I swear to God, ABC bought the rights to the feud. Because at this point, almost all the representation has been on ABC. Yeah.

And then we see nothing until October of 2001, nothing at all. Cartoon Network's Times Squad episode, feud for thought. Now, this is October 2001. Okay. This is after the Dana Carvey movie. Yeah. But I presume Carving movies. Yeah. But I presume since it's October, and we're talking about animation production would have had to have started before September 11th. Likely so. I mean, they usually tend to record cartoons and batches, right? Yeah. So yeah, but you still, I mean, they still released it. right? Yeah. So yeah. But you still, I mean, they still released it. So. Okay. Yeah. All right. Now, it's it's called time squad and it's feud for thought. And it's a cartoon where a dysfunctional team of time guardians goes through time to fix the deviations in history. So before we saw Loki, we saw this quote, they were hillbillies from West Virginia is how it's described. Uh, and

they have to get the families to start feuding. Now mind you, this has come out just a month and a half after the glass house with Diane Lane, Lili Sobiuski and Bruce Dern. So the country was pretty traumatized. Okay, right. Yeah. And again, it's about what, a month after they finished up filming the Master of Disguise with Dana Carvey. So it's a dark time. So it's quite a thing to have a cartoon trying to get to groups of people fighting each other so shortly after the glass house came out.

Yeah, yeah, that's kind of insensitive. I tend to say, yeah. You know, it's not like they were responsible for this movie, but like, you know, show a little respect for everybody. Yeah, you know, too soon, as soon. Yeah. How it goes. So the squad shows up and immediately falls into the wallow on the Hatfield side of the river and the Hatfield shout that the McCoy's are trying to steal their pigs. Interesting. Once again, the two family homes are across the river, each one on top of a mountain. There's lots of gunfire. And the Hatfields and the McCoys are as you'd expect, bucktooth, many flopping hats,

long beards, missing shoes. The McCoys are actually really friendly though. Weans just set in down to eat a steaming plate, a possum. So right. And then William Hatfield bangs on the door demanding that they open it up, accusing the McCoys of stealing his best pig, which again, okay, if you're going back in time, it's weird that you're getting this inversion zone. The hat fields are the redheads this, and very much the bullies. Yeah.

So, uh, well, that's that's at least back. Yeah. Obviously. Yeah. Um, and then he starts taking everything he can carry, including a paddle ball game from the baby McCoy, uh, and then quote, Hey, kids, we're having McCoy's dinner for dinner. And then he steals their horse and buggy. Uh, the McCoy's don't stick up for themselves is really the problem. And so the time squad takes them through a role-playing situation where they teach them how to be assertive. And it works and it causes the hatfields to apologize and ask for forgiveness. And then they hug it out and say, friends for life. So the plan backfired.

Like they got them to be assertive and they stopped the shitty behavior. So now the time squad needs to get them fighting in a different way. So they accused them of having weapons of masses. No, wait, sorry, that's a different fictional thing that happened. They graffiti each other's houses in the name of the other. So the time squad basically goes and, you know, Hatfield suck, love the McCoy's and McCoy's suck, love the Hatfields. They do that, you know, they frame them. And then they set cherry bombs off in the outhouses, they harden the water of the well. And then

it works because you hear it's fudentime and the bullets fly across the river with great volume. And then you hear this is terrible. They're just brutal savages. Yeah, but they're historically correct savages and I'm just like there it is. There you have it. Your thesis summarized. Right. Ta-da. Yeah. So I'm going to finish this episode up with the 2007 iteration. going to finish this episode up with the 2007 iteration. So 2007, we see another made for TV movie, but this time it's a horror film. So what do you expect? Jody Hatfield and Ricky McCoy want to be together. So they have to hide their love. They try to leave town

but they're found out by their families. And Ricky McCoy summons pumpkin head to bring vengeance down upon the families for keeping him and Jody apart. See pumpkin head, if you didn't know, as if you didn't know, is a magical forest demon. And the families refuse to believe that such as the case, and instead they think that their arch rivals are the real cause. So they attempt to go to war only to be stopped when pumpkin head attacks the Hatfield House. So then they have to put aside their differences and combine forces to stave off the creature before it finishes its vengeance pact like you do.

Hmm. Now as far as I could tell, this one went straight to DVD. I did not see it released anywhere. That's February of 07. And that is as schlock as it gets. And that's the last thing that we see until 2012, which we will start in the next episode. OK.

So what have you gleaned other than I did too much? Well, you always do. So that's that's not actually anything I glean. That's that's just the state of state of play around here. There. Um, the, the reduction of everything to like its own, its own subgenre of committee of del arte. This has all been shorthanded and shorthanded until like, well, all right, look, if you're going to do the story of the head feels in the McCoy's, you have to include the pig. Right. The river is optional. But if it's animated, you probably want to include the river. If it's animated, that's a nice visual shorthand.

So you probably want to include that. And the Romeo, Juliet, that subplot is a usual go-to, but you don't have to. In fact, it becomes background noise at best. If you think about all of these, it wasn't about that now. It's like Andy Griffith was the last time it really took center stage. Yeah, it turns into a B plot. Yeah. And, you know, you can, you can choose to, you know, try to take the focus and put the focus on the two primarchs, patriarchs of their respective houses. And I go back to what I said about this is like Shakespeare only without the respect we would give to Shakespeare. Right. This is like Shakespeare's third string competition. Mm hmm.

All of this is tropious. Fuck. Yes. If you've seen one of the, you can almost definitely guess where the beats are going to lead. Yes. And it's,'s melodrama. And it's all and and a part of the theme of it all at this point has become the antiquity of it.

Yeah, you're right. You know, this has become a, you know, what was the line from the beginning, the thrilling days of yesterday year, kind of thing. That's a trope involved in all of this in and of itself is we are taking this story out of our past. we are we are taking this story out of our past. And I really am still stuck on the fact that they've consistently moved the fictionalizations out of Appalachia. Yeah. And into the Ozarks, which I wonder if it doesn't have something to do with this is all being done by Hollywood and the Ozarks are just closer, which feels lazy, but we've seen shit like that in other places. So as much as that sounds like a lazy theory on my part, we can't be 100% discounted, you know, I wonder if the greater concentration of urbanization pulls people further and further from both of these areas in terms of the public consciousness. And as a result,

it just becomes more nebulous. These are flyover states with hill people. You have a hill range go. Okay. Yeah. And wonder if there's something to that as well. Yeah. And for most Americans who are not from either of these two regions, Appalachia versus Ozarks. I mean, the only reason, the only reason he and I are looking at this like, wait, that's fucking wrong. Is because we're both, we're both history nerds. This is true. True. I mean, Richard Dawson himself didn't know the difference between Virginia and West Virginia and West Virginia. himself didn't know the difference between Virginia and West Virginia and West Virginia.

Well, he's he wasn't born in the States anyway. He was a Brit, wouldn't he? I think you're right. So like I had almost almost given him a pass for that, but still like he's an asshole anyway. Let's just one more bit of evidence for what Brick he was. But I do think the casual offhand, yeah, where the fuck you're from? Who gives a shit? You're going to get a big shot. Yeah. His attitude there.

And the way the people he insulted laughed at it. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. The internalized kind of well, you know, and Virginia, West Virginia, we get it. Nobody knows like, ah, nobody from California would take that shit. If somebody said that about Nevada, like, you know, mixed us up with Nevada, right? We're even said like, Oh, you're from Oakland. Fuck you. I'm from Sacramento, you know, like, yeah, yeah, or, or, you know, you're from, you're from Modesto. Bitch, I'm from Stockton, you know, like, you know, yeah, there'd be their knives would come out and they would not go away. Right. You know, but the internalized, even the descendants of the their ancestors and maybe themselves as being bumpkins.

Yeah. And that's interesting, like sad and and could be under K-fable troubling. Yeah, well, I mean, yeah, it could be there, like they're on camera and like, okay, we have to be good sports. Right. Yeah. Because I mean, they did pretend to shoot at each other at the end. That was clearly done up. Yeah, obviously done up. Yeah. That's true.

But the fact that he could get away with saying that. Yeah. And the audience at home would get away with saying that. Yeah. And the audience at home would, oh, that Richard. Right. What a dick. Ah, sure. And also, you know, those people, like we care what their difference is.

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it is a daytime game show. Yeah. So, yeah, it's just the the the way that this story like almost nobody actually knows the historical details of it because it is kind of convoluted. Yes, quite so. But everybody knows the high points from the skit that the story has been turned into.

Yeah, that's a really good way to put it. And that's a really interesting case of Lord drift. To me, and I think that's kind of my take away right now. Sure. Is just the extent to which this has now become myth. Mm-hmm. It now for lack of a better term. Yeah, I do not disagree with you there.

Cool. Well, let's see. What are you reading this week or what are you going to recommend to people to read? Well in the realm of Violence as entertainment. Mm-hmm. I'm going to recommend a fantasy novel by Joe Abercrombie and anybody who recognizes his name is going to be nodding right now. The title of the book is The Heroes and it surrounds its imagine if a low fantasy author wrote their own version of Gettysburg. Okay. Or rather of the killer angels by Michael Shera. This is a multiple character view point depiction of a battle between two kingdoms. And one of the kingdoms is basically think,

you know, D&D semi barbarians. Okay, they're they're Northmen literally from it's the Northern Kingdom and they wear a lot of fur, they wear a lot of ring mail, you know, a lot of leather, broad swords, that kind of vibe. But nobody is a good guy. It's all written in a one of the descriptions of it is it's a kurosawa kind of stylized violence. And Abercrombie manages to take characters that you've never met before because it's a standalone novel. He takes characters you've never met before makes many of them really rat bastards. But they all have depth. They all have an internal life and they all have motivation and you I Could not put the book down nice

It is really compelling and it's an amazing read and in the midst of All of this violence that we've been talking about historically being cartoonified He does not do that um It is propulsive, it is exciting, but it is also ugly. And the people who commit it are damaged by it. So Heroes by Joe Evercrombie. How about you? Nice. I'm actually, you know, inspired by your exhaustion. I am going to recommend the following book, Safe and Sound, a renter-friendly guide to home repair by Mercury Stardust. I follow her on the TikTok app. Okay. She is also known as the Trans Handy ma'am.

Okay. She is also known as the trans handyman. Nice. She is a fucking delight. And her book is so just wonderfully illustrated. I am an idiot when it comes to home repair. This shit like made me understand stuff. So it was, it's awesome. It's, it's really nice. And it, you know, the money goes toward a really nice person. So just because

I'm curious of the things that she talks about in the book, which repair was the most useful to you so far, or most eye opening. The ease with which you can repair a not the shower, but the bath faucet. Okay. Real nice. Same with sink faucet. So, shit that moves water is usually very intimidating to me. So, I can understand that. Yeah, coming. Yeah. So, yeah. All right. Cool. Yeah. Anyway, let right cool. Yeah, anyway, um, let's see now there was want to be found so oh actually I do want to be found oh first I want you to go to sack comedy spot dot com and Look for tickets to capital punishment because we're coming back and March 1st And book your tickets fill the place out show them how good we are for business.

So that's where I want to be found. Well, you said the website. Yeah, you said the website. Where is the physical place? Oh, it's downtown in Sacramento. It's on, if I recall correctly, it is put me on the spot and I should know these things. It is the sack comedy spot. it is put me on the spot and I should know these things. It is the sack comedy spot. Yeah, it's on 20th and I wanna say J.

All right. So yeah, it's right there in the lavender district. It's a nice, lovely spot. So very cool. Yeah, great things gonna be cited for you. That's awesome. Yeah, so definitely find me there. Where can they find us as far as this?

Collectively, you have found us somewhere either on Stitcher or the Apple podcast app Either we're Stitcher gone. Stitcher. Sorry. Yeah, no Spotify again. Yeah. I got I got so much in the habit of not saying Spotify, but you found us either on Spotify or the Apple Podcast app. Wherever it is that you have found us, please hit the subscribe button. Give us the five star review that you know that Damien's exhaustive research has earned

him. And of course, our website is www.geekhistorytime.com. And you can go through our entire archive there and just look at the titles and pick something as a starting point. And, you know, if one episode or chain of episodes doesn't catch your interest, we have plenty of other stuff we're going to choose from. Well, cool. Yeah. That should do it. Uh, well, for Geek history of time, I'm Deemian Harmony. And I'm Ed Blaylock. And until next time, get off my land.

Time, get off my land!